1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …

Alabama has won 2 games by an average of 40 points to begin the 2019 season, and suddenly looks vulnerable.

Alabama has played near perfect ball, and suddenly has significant hurdles on the road to its permanent spot in the College Football Playoff.

Welcome to the new and improved SEC, everyone. It’s no longer Alabama and the 13 Dwarves.

It’s pick-a-pair – any pair – from a pack of 5 teams good enough to find a way to the CFP.

“We all knew this day would eventually come,” one SEC coach told me Sunday. “Once LSU found an answer (at quarterback), we were all (expletive).”

But it’s not just LSU and its quickly emerging offense with a couple of Joes running the show (more on that later).

It’s Texas A&M traveling to defending national champion Clemson and making the Tigers’ point-a-minute offense look fairly pedestrian in a respectable loss – and thereby shedding light on what Jimbo Fisher is building in College Station.

It’s Auburn coming back from a double-digit deficit in the season opener – with true freshman quarterback Bo Nix making his first start — to beat Pac-12 favorite Oregon.

It’s Georgia doing what it’s supposed to (something that’s way overlooked these days), and setting up a huge nonconference game in 2 weeks against Notre Dame.

Now think about this: To advance to the CFP for the 6th consecutive season, Alabama might have to beat its 3 West Division rivals and Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Unless, of course, the right combination of 1-loss teams allows the Tide to lose once and still make it.

Want to know just how strong the first 5 in the SEC look? Texas A&M could lose an SEC game, win a likely West Division tiebreaker and win out – and advance to the CFP with 2 losses.

We’re at this point with the Big 5 in the SEC because only Clemson is recruiting at the same level as Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Texas A&M.

We’re at this point because LSU finally found a quarterback (Joe Burrow), and Auburn got a quarterback legacy (Bo Nix) at the most important position on the field.

We’re at this point because the Pac-12 is already out of the race (I’m not buying Utah), and Texas is good enough to beat Oklahoma (it did last year), and the odds of Ohio State finishing the season unbeaten aren’t strong (it might not matter if the Buckeyes do, anyway).

It’s a process of elimination for the coveted 4 CFP spots: Clemson, the SEC champion and 2 wide open spots. Odds are one of those 2 spots will be gobbled up by a 1-loss SEC runner-up.

Of course, Notre Dame could beat Georgia, and the Big 4 in the West Division could cancel out each other with a crazy round robin of games that leaves everyone damaged – but that’s about as likely as Oklahoma playing Alabama in one CFP semifinal, and Georgia playing Ohio State in the other.

And if that happens, God help us all. Because the world as we know it is over.

2. Super Joe

You bumped your head, you were in a coma for a year, you woke up and I showed you this stat line:

LSU passing: 31-of-39, 471 yards, 4 TDs.

Your response: Heaven really is all they said it would be.

Earlier this summer, I spent some time in Baton Rouge for a profile I wrote on Joe Burrow. He was adamant that LSU would not only throw the ball well but lead the SEC in passing.

He said over and over that SEC teams would be “shocked” at what the new passing game looks like. Safe to say, we’re all blown away after that stat line performance of Burrow (and new passing game coordinator Joe Brady) against Texas.

It was as efficient as it was prolific and underscored not only the change in offensive philosophy but another critical factor Burrow explained earlier this summer: When he arrived at LSU last year, he hadn’t prepared to be a starting quarterback on a weekly basis in 3 years.

When he finally did win the job, he was forced into an offense out of the Flintstones. A year later, he’s back with the Jetsons.

“An offense that I’ve run since high school,” Burrow said. “Same ideas, same concepts. It didn’t take long to pick it back up.”

It didn’t take long for the offense to make an impact. LSU leads the SEC in passing, and Burrow is No. 2 in the nation in quarterback rating (trailing only Jalen Hurts of Oklahoma).

Burrow is tied for the lead in the nation in touchdown passes (9), is averaging 11.3 yards per attempt — nearly a whopping 4 yards more than last year, in a number where improvement is gauged by half-yard increments.

Maybe heaven really is all they said it would be.

3. New and improved, The Epilogue

After Burrow was adamant about what he expected from the new LSU offense, I made a few calls to NFL scouts and a few guys in the coaching community to get an idea of Joe Brady and what he would bring to LSU.

One NFL scout said Brady will be a head coach in college football in “2 years” and that LSU was the perfect place for him to go because it would “be such a stark difference, university presidents and athletic directors would be drawn to him as “an agent of change.”

A personnel executive for one NFL franchise said of Brady, who will be 30 in two weeks, “He has been around two really smart head coaches (James Franklin and Sean Payton), and already has picked up a ton about organizational ideas and how to run an offense and a program. The move is to younger guys (in the NFL). I would imagine it will be the same soon (in college).”

Brady grew up in Florida and played high school football in Ft. Lauderdale, and played at William & Mary. Consider this meteoric timeline:

Graduated from William & Mary (2012)

Linebackers coach, William & Mary (2013-14).

Graduate assistant, Penn State (2015-16)

Offensive assistant, New Orleans Saints (2017-18)

Passing game coordinator, LSU (present)

“(Payton) loved the kid, he raved about him,” another NFL scout said. “It was kind of his protégé. Both very similar guys. Smart, cerebral and a vision of what’s right and what works. He has a bright future in this game.”

4. From Grumors to The Great Urb Hope

Just when it looked as though the Tennessee fan couldn’t be more tortured, along comes Urban Meyer to make it even worse.

During a weather delay in the Cal-Washington game, the former Florida and Ohio State coach was commenting on Fox’s telecast about Tennessee’s loss to BYU and the 0-2 start under Jeremy Pruitt — and if things will ever get better in Knoxville.

Then it happened. Urb actually sounded like he was interested in the Tennessee job. At least, that’s how those in Big Orange see it.

“I heard Tennessee is not a great state for recruiting,” Meyer said. “Nashville is a great area for high school football, Memphis is a great area. So I’m not sure what’s going on. I’m just shocked. Tennessee, you see the facilities, you see the investment in the program … I’m not sure what’s going on. You’re talking about one of the top 10 programs in America.”

From Urb’s mouth to the Big Orange veins.

Now understand this, Tennessee fans: Meyer doesn’t take jobs that are major overhauls. Hasn’t since he accepted his first gig at Bowling Green. Every other job since has been full of talent – and set at the quarterback spot.

Utah (Alex Smith), Florida (Chris Leak) and Ohio State (Braxton Miller) were all in good position with personnel, and Meyer went unbeaten in Year 2 at Utah, won the national title in Year 2 at Florida, and went unbeaten in Year 1 at Ohio State.

As intriguing as it would be to have him back in the SEC – in the East Division, no less – and coaching against his protégé (Dan Mullen) and his rival (Nick Saban), it’s just not happening.

When Meyer returns to the game (and he will most certainly return), it will be at a job that’s set up to win (personnel and commitment) quickly. His health won’t allow him to grind through a few tough seasons.

5. The Weekly Five

Five picks against the spread:

Alabama (-24) at South Carolina

Florida (-10) at Kentucky

Kansas State at Mississippi State (-7.5)

Colorado State (+10) at Arkansas

Kent State (+34.5) at Auburn

Last week: 2-3 (.400)Season: 5-6 (.454)

6. The tape is your résumé

“I think he might have played better in 2017 than last year. Two good seasons, though – with enough big plays to make you wonder what happens when it all comes together? A strong guy, very disruptive in the middle. He can get after the quarterback, too. He’s not going to be a double-digit sack guy, but he could get 6 or 7, and that’s all bonus because you want him in the middle as an anchor against the run. He has great hands; really strong and quick. Your strength only helps so much on the interior; you’ve got to have something else. Those hands are punishing. A lock first-rounder. The better he plays this year, the higher his stock rises.”

13. Vanderbilt: The defense, the backbone of Derek Mason’s tenure in Nashville, is a mess. The offense might be worse. Perfect time for bye week.

14. Arkansas: Maybe Chad Morris found something with backup QB Nick Starkel. The offense is brutal, and at least found some rhythm with Starkel.

8. Ask and you shall receive

Matt: I kept hearing before the season about how Kellen Mond was going to have a great year in Year 2 under (Texas A&M coach) Jimbo (Fisher). Am I missing something? Because he didn’t look so good against Clemson.

Cher Slayton Houston

Cher: Let me explain what Mond did Saturday afternoon: He busted his tail for 4 quarters against one of the top 3 defenses in college football, knowing full well his margin for error was scant, at best, because of the scoring ability of Clemson’s offense.

He made the most of his plays out there, and frankly, got his butt kicked. He still threw for 236 yards and a score.

He was limping on an injured foot/ankle much of the game, and as he walked off the field after the game, had lacerations on his face that looked like they needed stitches. Then he hopped on a team bus to, I’m guessing, the Greenville/Spartanburg Airport, where he took a flight back to College Station, went to bed, woke up Monday morning too sore to walk – and had to go to class.

Cut the kid some slack. The season is young, he’s talented and he’ll play well all season — and he’s not getting paid to do it.

9. Numbers

303. Kentucky snapped a 31-game losing streak to Florida last year not because of poor play from Gators QB Feleipe Franks or because of Kentucky’s stingy defense with Josh Allen. The Wildcats beat Florida because they rushed for 303 yards.

In 2 games this season – without graduated star TB Benny Snell Jr. — Kentucky has rushed for 415 yards against Toledo and Eastern Michigan. If Kentucky wants to start a streak against Florida, TBs Asim Rose and Kavosiey Smoke have to rush for more than 200 yards to take pressure off new QB Sawyer Smith.

10. Quote to note

“We’re playing the best teams that we can get to play us. Why don’t you start calling around and see if you can get somebody else to play us? We’ll play them. We’ll play anybody you can get to play us.” – Alabama coach Nick Saban on scheduling nonconference games.

Tough as nails, but it’s still ridiculous that he told everyone he was the best QB in the SEC when the southpaw in Tuscaloosa rewrote the record books and the pre-snap Einstein in Athens has beat every SEC East team by 20+ points.

Over the past two years, UGA has beaten every team in the East at least once by 20 points. UF, Missouri, and SC were within 20 once during that time. I’m not sure why only results from the East count though. The West is also in the SEC, and he hasn’t fared as well against those teams.

KS’s post does read a little off. I’m not really sure what he is trying to say. Fromm has not beaten every East team every time by 20, and there is no season where he has done that. You weren’t wrong in your post by any means.

What I was saying is that Fromm is undefeated against teams in his division by an average of over 20 points each game and has lost just 2 regular season games to SEC West teams in two years, both NY6 teams, while Mond lost to Auburn and MSU who both went 8-5 last year. Yet Mond said he believed he was the best QB in the SEC when there is no evidence supporting such a statement, and while that confidence in and of itself isn’t necessarily ridiculous, it does look stupid when you compare him to the demeanor of guys like Fromm, Tua, Jalen, and Trevor, who never boast about their own skills.

Hmmm. Give Kellen Mond the supporting cast that Fromm has in Athens, put Fromm in that rebuilding situation at Texas A&M and then we can see who is the better QB. The few times that Fromm has faced anything close to the pressure and lack of support from the running game that Mond faced against Clemson he hasn’t looked good at all.

You could argue that Fromm’s supporting cast looks so good because of his elite pre-snap skills and throwing accuracy. You could argue that Fromm has a lot to do with the successful rebuild that UGA has undergone, and that Fromm’s avoiding of pressure comes from his coverage/blitz recognition and ability to check down quickly. It’s a flawed and incomplete argument that needs context, just like the one you just posited.

“Any team that thinks they can beat Bama need only wait until the postseason.”

Loser comment from a proud member of the Alabama and the 13 dwarves conference. “We can’t beat Bama means that NO ONE can beat Bama.” Said the ACC about FSU during the 1990s and the Pac-10 about USC and Oregon in the 00s. Funny thing … during that era FSU, USC and Oregon most certainly did lose to good teams out of conference who didn’t treat losing to them as a badge of honor, and certainly didn’t treat a close loss against those teams as superior to beating anybody else.

Look, one of Saban’s most talented teams on paper lost 3 times in conference play in 2010. Of course, that was when the SEC was actually a deep conference with legit contenders instead of teams loving to live vicarouslly through Saban’s accomplishments.

Ohio State took down mighty Alabama in 2014 WITH THEIR THIRD STRING QB. Alabama needed a fake put to beat a Clemson team in 2015 THAT WAS MISSING THREE OF THEIR TOP FOUR WRS. And Clemson beat Bama again last year with a true freshman QB who got the job 1/4 through the season and missing their best defensive player!

Your conference had 2 teams ranked in the AP top 25 last year while the SEC had 8. The SEC put 3 teams in NY6 Bowls last year and won 2. Syracuse went to the Camping World Bowl.

Your biggest challenger in the ACC just lost to Maryland by double digits.

Maryland.

The SEC is the only team to put multiple teams in the playoff, and TWICE in the past decade have 2 SEC teams played each other for conference championships.

Every year you whine and moan about how the SEC is really just top-heavy, and their schedules are a joke, but when it comes to a show of hands it’s Dabo and no one else in the ACC. It’s OSU, overhyped Michigan, and no one else in the B1G, and it’s Oklahoma in the Big 12. The Pac 12 doesn’t even qualify as a worthwhile conference anymore.

When bowl season and the draft–the true indicators of the best conferences, roll around, you’ll shut up and crawl back in your hole once again.

“keeping everybody healthy” — it’s not something you DO, it’s something you hope for. No team gets through a season without some lost playing time for somebody, and the injury god is no respecter of persons.

Matt you clearly haven’t watched either or Kentucky’s games so far this year. Against Toledo, Kentucky gave up a couple of long drives before settling in and shutting down the Rockets. Against EMU, Kentucky basically shut them down until it was well in hand, and then let them nickel and dime their way down the field before shutting the. I assure you that if you watched either game then you would know that the defense hasn’t been a problem if you bothered to watch either game. Also, both starting QBs the Cats faced are better than Franks.

There’s also a reason that the UK-UF line has been bet down from the 11 point spread it initially was. Both teams have sustained significant injuries and UK has one of the better backups in the SEC. Smith obviously does not possess Wilson’s athleticism, but he definitely is more accurate with his short to intermediate throws. His deep ball needs more precision (although a review of the Dollar General bowl last year shows multiple downfield dimes), but Terry’s does as well. Kentucky was forunate to upgrade the backup situation this offseason, the drop off isn’t as drastic as it could’ve been.

And while I comment on Smith not being the runner that Terry was, he was still used as a wildcat QB at Troy before he became the starter. He’s not Terry fast, but he’s still got some athleticism.

So based on your team’s performance against such powerhouses ad Toledo and EMU and your low opinion of Franks you’re saying UK wins big. We will soon find out and BTW, I rather have Franks than those two Qbs you mention or any of the ones on your team even before the injury

Pray tell???? Seriously?? Uhhh… Mizzou lost to Wyoming, F__CKING WYOMING, and Kentucky just lost their starting QB for the season and didn’t look particularly good with him. Florida has a mediocre QB (at best), a terrible O-line and an idiot running their defense.

I’m not going to hold it against A&M that they lost to the best team in the country on the road and Auburn beat a good Oregon team.

Your comments are full of you insulting people. You’re a coward. Typical internet tough guy. I bet you’re 90lbs soaking wet and if you ever said the things you say online to a real person you’d learn a valuble lesson.

Florida fan dislikes UGA fans. Stop the presses everybody and pay attention to CO Jones before they lose it. They would like everyone to know that UGA fans are bothering them. Pay no mind that they have nothing to say about the Florida team but would rather let you know how much UGA fans are annoying them. I repeat, please pay attention to CO Jones and beware UGA that are excited about UGA.

CO…sounds like you’ve sworn off all us pup fans. Does that mean you won’t be bellying up to the bar for a single malt with me after my leghumpers trounce your gatorbaitors nov 2nd for the 3rd straight year?

Buddy, prognosticating is the lifeblood of College football from Sunday – Friday. It’s the ebtire reason this forum exists. Don’t hate on UGA because they think they are gonna steamroll you on Nov 2. We think they are gonna steamroll the rest of the SEC for the third season in a row too. The “premature evaluator” joke is cute but it’s not just UGA fans who think that way. The Coaches, AP, Vegas, and everyone else involved with College football thinks the dawgs are gonna bully UF for 4 quarters too. I mean I wouldn’t be surprised if instead of doing the coaches handshake after the game if Kirby Smart just gives Mullen an atomic wedgie.

Ok Matty boy you are full of confidence and bravado after two games let’s see what happens at the end of the season. I can play your stupid game as well, you will not win a NC, you will lose at least one game in the regular season and your bowl game as well since your players will again feel they should be in the playoffs and mail it in

You just described a season Florida would love to have lol. I’m not confident after two games. I’m confident after 2 years of watching the dawgs wipe the floor in Jacksonville with a gatorskin mop. Care to make a prediction for the game on Nov 2? How about the over/under for turnovers by Franks. I’d set it at 2 and a half.

OK buddy good to know. But the nice thing is that the games do need to be played and if you get yor arse handed out to you in Gainesville then you won’t be in the “next two” A&M will probably lose a few more games as well and won’t be in that echelon either

It really gets old reading articles by a hack who thinks he speaks for the UT fan base with no fact or anything else to back him up. I haven’t read a single post on this site or anywhere else and I haven’t heard a single person calling in to the radio shows saying we want Meyer as our next coach. Same stupid sh!t with dumba$$ dave hooker and his articles about fulmer taking over for Pruitt. Hookers article was like blood in the pool full of sharks though. He got a lot of clicks including mine. All of a sudden everyone jumps all over us because now we want fulmer to take over even though every post from a UT fan was the exact opposite. I like to read articles with some semblense of fact based journalism and even an occasional fictional article that starts out by saying something to the effect it’s fictional. May have to go somewhere else for those I guess. Anyway sorry for the long diatribe. Second will get 2 in the cfp , out of UGA, bama and LSU imo.

Saban has stated that he’d like to have 12 power 5 teams on everyone’s schedule and 10 SEC games. That’s an idea that I can get behind but you would see some of the smaller FCS and even FBS programs start to collapse.